Medical devices that navigate body lumens need to be physically small enough to fit within the lumens. Lung catheters, for example, which may be used to perform minimally invasive lung biopsies or other medical procedures, may need to follow airways that decrease in size as the catheter navigates branching passages. To reach a target location in a lung, a catheter may follow passages having diameters as small as 3 mm or less. Manufacturing a catheter that includes the mechanical and sensor structures suitable for remote or robotic operation and that has a diameter that is sufficiently small to navigate such small lumens can be challenging. In particular, one desirable configuration for a remotely operated catheter would provide a tool mounted on a steerable segment; tendons or pull wires that extend down the length of the catheter to an external drive system that pulls on the tendons to actuate the tool or steerable segment; lumens for suction and/or irrigation; a vision system for viewing of the target location; and sensors to identify the location of the instrument relative to the anatomy of a patient. Accommodating all of the desired features and elements of a lung catheter or other device that is robotically controlled and has a diameter about 3 mm or less can be difficult.